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- Herausgeber: Vanessa Vale
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
Books 4 - 6 of the thrilling Wolf Ranch series!
Includes:
Savage - Pack Rule #4: Guard your pups with your life.
Fierce - Pack Rule #5: Happy mate, happy fate.
Ruthless - Pack Rule # 6: Keep humans away from pack land.
The best in shifter cowboys!
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Wolf Ranch Boxed Set - Books 4 - 6
Renee Rose
Vanessa Vale
Wolf Ranch: Savage, Fierce & Ruthless
Copyright © 2020 by Bridger Media and Wilrose Dream Ventures LLC
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from both authors, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design: Bridger Media
Cover graphic: Period Images; Deposit Photos: tolstnev
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Contents
Savage
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Fierce
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Epilogue
Ruthless
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
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About Renee Rose
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Savage
Wolf Ranch - Book 4
1
CLINT
Cooper Valley’s lone saloon, Cody’s, was packed with a mix of drunken humans and shifters. The twang of country music filled the air along with whoops and hollers from the back corner where people tested their mettle on the mechanical bull. The scent of spilled beer and potent cologne made me wish for wide open spaces. I tossed back another whiskey and watched the blonde nurse weave across the floor for her turn. Tipsy humans weren’t usually my thing, but this one was damn cute. Her lush mouth was wide open in a carefree smile, her cowgirl hat askew on her head. She wore a pair of hot pink, cowgirl boots with her short jean skirt that combined to make her the hottest number in the bar. I was jealous of the mechanical bull. If she wanted to go for a ride, she’d get more fun out of my dick. I could promise her that.
Of course, my pack brother, Boyd, would strongly disagree with my desire to sidetrack the nurse from his mate’s bachelorette party. The shindig we males crashed.
Boyd and Colton had ridden in a limo with their mates and the other ladies in the group. I’d caught up to them because leaving human females unprotected at a drinking establishment was not a possibility. Boyd and Colton were keeping an eye on their mates, but as council enforcer, it was my secret job to keep everyone safe at all times. Audrey now belonged to the pack, and the way Colton was keeping a protective watch on her sister, growling at any male who came near her, I had a feeling she’d be mated as soon as they found an available horizontal surface.
Lucky bastards.
I accepted another shot and raised my glass to Boyd, who stood a few feet away, protecting his mate. His pregnant mate.
Again, lucky bastard. How the cocky fuck found a human to be his mate, claim her and put a baby in her belly was beyond me. He hadn’t been around in years. Returned home for one rodeo event, and he’d been lassoed by a cute Ob/Gyn.
And me? I’d been downing the liquor like it was water, trying to tamp down my wolf’s agitation that I hadn’t found my own mate yet. I was older than Boyd and Colton and had had plenty of opportunity, not only in Cooper Valley but also as I traveled as an enforcer. I had more reach than most shifter males to find a mate.
Now, looking at the Wolf brothers zeroed in on human females, it occurred to me that maybe I’d been looking in the wrong places.
I hadn’t realized a wolf could choose a human for a mate, but clearly they had. It made no sense to me logically, but there was no denying biology. Boyd was certain. Colton looked pretty damn certain too.
I glanced away from the Wolf boys and caught a glimpse of Becky on the bull. Yeah, the hot little number with a jean skirt riding high on her thighs made my dick press painfully against the zipper of my jeans. A human male—damn, actually three human males—lurched toward Becky, the adorable tipsy nurse, as she hopped off the mechanical bull. My wolf growled.
I didn’t like males taking advantage of a female who’d been drinking. She might not be my female to specifically protect, but she was here with our group, and I’d be damned if I was going to let any male paw her when she was in this inebriated state. Hell, even if she was stone cold sober.
I downed the two fingers of whiskey and pushed off from the bar, picking my way through the crowd with my gaze glued to the petite blonde.
“—why don’t you take a ride on me next?” some asshole said to her.
“Why don’t you let me through?” she countered, arching a brow.
Good. She wasn’t as drunk as I’d thought. I liked knowing she could take care of herself. Still, I felt obliged to provide back up. It was in my wolf DNA and in my enforcer job description.
“You heard the lady.” My deep voice cut through the crowd, and four heads swiveled my way in surprise—the three human men vying for Becky’s attention and the lovely nurse’s. I didn’t get in her space, wanting to give her the room the other guys weren’t offering.
She beamed at me from her spot by the rail that enclosed the mechanical bull area. Her blue eyes showed pleasure at seeing me, and I wondered what they’d look like when they showed pleasure from me getting her off. I didn’t care if it was on my fingers, on my mouth or on my dick. I’d satisfy her any way she wanted it.
“Thank you, Clint.”
It took me a second to recover from surprise that she knew my name, and in that moment, the asshole in question positioned himself between me and my little nurse. Yeah, my little nurse because I had my sights set on her. But these assholes were pretty much cockblocking me, which really didn’t set well. The fact that they were messing with Becky didn’t make me happy either.
“Give the lady some space,” I growled. Rob, our pack alpha, my boss and best friend, didn’t like us picking fights with humans. Sure, he and the Shifter Council sent me out to deal with rogue shifters or anyone who needed reminding of the rules, but this was different. This was Cody’s on a crowded summer night. The temptation to show wolf superior strength was fucking strong, but the chance of truly hurting a human or worse—revealing our nature—would increase. I was careful to keep our ways a secret, but no one fucked with a female, shifter or human.
No way was I backing down.
Especially not when nutsack gave me a shove. I tried not to laugh at his meager strength. I had to be six inches taller and a bag of feed heavier. He did have balls though. I had to give him that. Still—
I wrapped a fist in his shirt and used it to pick him up and shake him. “Get lost, asshole. The lady asked you to let her through.”
He threw a punch. I couldn’t miss the windup, and I was tempted to dodge it. To throw one back. But the thought of pissing off my alpha ran through my head, so I held still and took it—right in the nose.
Meh. He’d broken it. Whatever. It hurt a little, but I’d heal in a few hours. No biggie.
The worse blow was to my ego, which really wanted me to pound the fuck out of said asshole right here in the bar. But what I wanted to do to him would put him in the hospital, and that was a big no.
Fucking humans.
I sighed and settled for my fingers around his throat. My hands were big and strong. I could squeeze and lift him off his feet at the same time. Blood ran down my face, but the dude was turning purple, gasping and kicking out to reach the floor. I waited a couple beats until Becky closed the distance between us, plucked my sleeve with a sweet little, “Clint.” Only then did I drop the guy.
I let him fall and immediately ignored him, turning all my attention to the little blonde. “You okay, sugar? Come here.”
I didn’t plan on doing anything dramatic, but one minute she stood before me, her head tilted back so her blue eyes met mine, looking adorable in her pink boots and mini skirt, the next she was up in my arms in a honeymoon carry.
“Clint!” she shouted, laughing.
I pushed through the crowd toward the bathrooms because I was going to have to clean up. I didn’t give a shit about blood. Being a nurse, I doubted she did either, but still. On the right were the doors to the restrooms, to the left a storage room. I chose the left where we wouldn’t be interrupted.
My sudden flare for the dramatic continued because I didn’t feel like dropping her after I opened the door and carried her right inside. Only when I’d found the switch to illuminate the shelf-lined walls did I tip her back onto her feet. I locked the door—not because I was planning on doing anything with her. I just didn’t want to be bothered. Yeah, that was all. It wasn’t that I wanted uninterrupted alone time with the little nurse.
“Wow, are you all right? That guy was a total jerk.” Her breathless voice wound around my trunk like honey and silk. She looked up at me with the prettiest wide blue eyes I’d ever seen. “We should probably get you to the hospital to have that set.”
I smirked at her because her concern was damn cute. The bleeding had already stopped, so I went over to the utility sink, pushed a mop handle out of the way and quickly washed. Tugging a few paper towels from the dispenser, I dried my face. There was some blood on my snap shirt, but that wasn’t going anywhere until I got it in the washer. I would take it off though, if she wanted. Fuck, yeah, I would.
I leaned down to put my face close to hers. “You can set it for me, sugar, and we can skip the doctors. Hell, we can play doctor if you want.”
I grinned at her blush, which I couldn’t miss even with the single light bulb lighting the room.
“Oh, well, I don’t know—” she said, but still reached up to line her thumbs along the bone of my nose. One quick move, and she snapped it back in place. She didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink at the task.
I wiggled my nose like a rabbit. “I knew you could do it for me.”
“Are you okay?” Her hands slid to my chest. The touch set off something strange inside me. Sure, it made my dick hard, but it was more. A connection. It must’ve had something to do with the whiskey. Shifters sobered pretty damned fast, but still. I didn’t usually react so… viscerally to human women. “That was very gentlemanly of you to step in.”
I suddenly wished getting punched in the nose hadn’t fucked with my sense of smell because my wolf was itching to get a noseful of her. I’d bet she smelled sweet.
Sweet as candy.
Every-fucking-where.
“I’m fine, sugar.” My hands found her waist of their own accord. I shouldn’t touch her. Not when she’d been drinking.
I’d been drinking, too.
Plus, she was best friends with my pack brother’s mate.
But her waist felt perfect under my palms. She had meat on her bones, and I itched to feel every inch of those soft, lush curves. Her blue gaze had locked onto mine, and she was breathing softly and quickly, little pants that made me want to shove her up against the wall to make them heavier. “You?”
“I’m fine,” she said quickly, eyes dilated. “I’m better than fine.” She licked her lips. “In fact, I’m kinda turned on by you right now.”
Hell, yes. A woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to voice her needs. My dick went hard at her honesty.
“That was pretty badass the way you choked that guy with just one hand.” She cocked her head toward the closed door. Thankfully, the thick wood muffled the noise and music from the bar.
I almost groaned. My dick had gone rock hard, and she’d stepped so close to me I could feel her body heat, her soft curves just centimeters away. She was a petite, tempting handful.
“Sugar, you’re pushing my self-control here.” Despite my words, I pulled her soft body up against mine. “No matter how much I want to take things further, both of us have been drinking, so I think I’d better get you home before we get ourselves into trouble.”
She smiled up at me, her lids at half-mast. “Trouble, hmm?” she purred. “What if trouble is what I’m looking for?”
This time I was pretty sure my groan escaped. Holy. Fuck.
I’d been propositioned before. Becky, though, had my dick leaking pre-cum from just talk. She was fully clothed, and we hadn’t even kissed.
“I’m not that drunk.” She pressed those pert breasts against my ribs. “I’ve been drinking water the past hour.”
I took a deep breath, but… nothing. Damn, I had never wanted to smell a female so much in my life. Why’d that asshole have to punch me in the goddamn nose? I’d be able to scent her pussy, know if she was wet just by one inhale. I’d have to find out another way… my fingers itching for the task.
My brain scrambled—something that never happened to me with females—especially not human ones. Hell, my dick took over. Next thing I knew, I used my shifter strength to pick her up and set her down on a table I assumed was used for… hell if I knew or cared. I was just thankful for its existence as I stepped up between her parted thighs. Her jean skirt rode up, and I couldn’t miss the hint of hot pink panties… and a wet spot.
Yeah, she was wet for me. I licked my lips, eager to get a taste.
She let out a chuckle of breathy excitement and hooked a hand behind my head to bring my face down to hers. That was the yes my wolf and I needed.
She wasn’t drunk. She’d said as much, and her behavior was that of a hot, horny woman—not a drunk. I wasn’t taking advantage in a storage room. That would be extraordinarily ungentlemanly. Hell, she just might be taking advantage of me. And that was sure as hell fine with me.
I was unprepared for the sweetness of the kiss. The intensity. Her lips were soft and tasted faintly of strawberries and vodka. Her impetuous tongue swept between my lips, and that was my undoing although I’d been barely holding on before now.
Suddenly, I couldn’t hold back at all. I must’ve had more alcohol than I should have. Or maybe it had been the contemplation of wishing I could have my own mate, but suddenly my focus narrowed to nothing but this moment. This sweet little human before me, offering her mouth up for the taking.
And take it I did.
I fucking owned it. And her.
I kissed the hell out of the little nurse until she writhed against me, her ankles hooked behind my back, pulling me against her sweetest spot.
“Clint,” she whimpered against my lips, her voice thready with need.
“Yeah, sugar?” I held her jaw, ready to angle my lips back over hers as soon as she finished her piece. I still couldn’t smell a thing, which drove me fucking nuts. I just knew she’d smell delicious. Edible, even.
Her eyes dropped to the bulge in my jeans. The bulge pressed up against her pink satin panties. “Show me what you’re packing in there,” she murmured, her voice husky.
I shouldn’t. I wasn’t going to, but my dick was leading the charge.
Her deft fingers popped the button and undid the zipper before I’d even decided how to tell her we shouldn’t.
“Aw, sugar, drinking and—oh.” I choked on the last syllable when she grasped the base of my dick in her tight fist and gave it a tug. Those tiny fingers gripped me tight.
“Do you have a condom, cowboy?” Her smile was knowing and sure, her touch intent. She had plans for my dick.
A shudder of pleasure ran through me. I lengthened in her hand as she jerked me off. Pre-cum dripped down over her fingers.
My brain could barely process for the pleasure, the synapses slow and sparking, but I eventually reached in my back pocket and produced a condom. “Yes, ma’am.”
She took it from me and ripped it open with her teeth then rolled the rubber on. I didn’t even know if she finished getting it in place because a storm of desire flushed through me, volcanic in nature. I wanted in her. Now. I wanted to feel the tight, hot heat of her pussy around me. I wanted to feel the ripples of her pleasure as I fucked her over the edge.
“Come here,” I rasped, picking her up so she straddled my waist. Gripping the full swell of each ass cheek, I spun her around until her back was against the wall.
“Oh God, yes.” She clung to my shoulders, holding herself up as I shoved her panties to the side and sunk into her heat.
Yes. Yes.
A growl filled the storeroom. The thump of music from Cody’s dance floor faded. My vision narrowed to myopic level. Nothing mattered except pounding into this sweet, willing human I had nailed to the wall with my dick.
Especially when she started making little noises of agreement. Uhn. Uhn. Clint.
Oh, damn. She felt so good. So perfect. So right.
Why hadn’t I let off some steam with humans more often? It was definitely worth it. I buried my cock in her sweet heat up to the hilt, eased back, shoved in deep again. I watched her closely, ensuring I was giving it to her how she needed it. I didn’t let myself pound as hard as I wanted to for fear I’d hurt her. It didn't matter. Fucking her still felt like heaven. Every time I filled her, I lost a little more control until I was pushing fast and hard, holding my hips close to hers, so I wouldn’t slam her against the wall.
Her nails dug into my shoulders, her legs wrapped tight behind my back, the heels of those cowboy boots digging into my ass. She kept making those sounds that drove me fucking crazy.
Holy shit, it had never been this good. This wild, as if I were almost… savage for her.
“I’m gonna come, sugar. Are you close?” No way was I leaving her behind.
“Now, cowboy,” she commanded, like she’d been waiting to say it.
I sped up, jackhammering in and out, while her cries filled my ears. I came with a snarl—the kind of sound I should never let a human hear, but it didn’t matter because I was banging the thoughts right out of her head. Her cries matched mine, and I had no doubt anyone in the hall would know what was going on in here. Her tight pussy squeezed my dick like a glove, pulsing and milking it for its cum. And there was a lot of it to fill the condom. I gave her all I had and didn’t let up until my balls were fucking empty.
“Oh fates, that was good,” I managed to say as my vision began to clear. I could barely catch my breath as I set her back on her feet.
The little human smiled up at me. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes all hazy, and my dick started to harden all over again knowing I’d made her look that way. “It sure was.”
I eased out, tossed the condom into the trash then tucked myself away and pulled up my pants as she fixed her panties and slid her skirt back down. I’d barely seen any of her, and I wanted another round, but the next time I’d have her naked. She adjusted her top, smoothed her hair down. She might look put back together, but anyone out there would know she’d just been well satisfied.
That made me feel like a million, very cocky, bucks. I wanted to give her that glow again. And again, which had me suddenly remembered why I didn’t make a habit of randomly screwing humans.
They had feelings. I couldn’t exactly enter a relationship with one when I was holding out for my true mate. No matter how hot a fuck that had been, she wasn’t my mate. And I may never have one.
Shit.
I sure as hell hoped Becky didn’t get hurt by this.
“You need a ride home?” I asked. “A bottle of water?”
Things suddenly got awkward.
“No.” Becky breezed past me and unlocked the door. “I came in the limo, remember?” She glanced over her shoulder and offered me a smile. She was reassuring me. “Don’t get weird about this, okay? We hooked up. We both enjoyed it. End of story.”
“Right.” I caught up and dropped a hand to her hip to escort her out. “I definitely enjoyed it.” The top of my head had pretty much blown off. I opened the door, the sounds of reality crashing around us again.
I enjoyed it way more than I should have. My dick wanted more of that hot pussy, that was for damn sure. Which meant I definitely needed to steer clear of Becky and the temptation she presented. Because my mom raised me better than to toy with the emotions of random females, even if she sure seemed fine with a hot quickie.
2
CLINT
Four months later
I sat on the edge of the motel bed to clean my gun and place the silver bullets in the chamber. There weren’t many Shifter Council enforcers, and we varied as much as the geography of the packs we were from. There were some enforcers who killed in shifter form. I preferred remaining in human form, the silver bullet from a gun my method of pack justice. I had no idea why—it just felt more civilized.
That didn’t mean I hadn’t killed with my bare hands. Or teeth.
I had.
But I hoped today I’d be able to use the bullet and keep justice as swift and painless as possible.
I holstered the gun under my arm and pulled a down jacket over my t-shirt to cover it. The moment I stepped outside the wind howled in my ears. Wyoming was fucking windy in November. Hell, Wyoming was fucking windy all the time, in my experience. November might still technically be fall, but it was cold as fuck and would stay that way until at least March.
This wasn’t my favorite place to be. I’d been tracking Jarod Jameson, the rogue shifter who was the infamous convenience store killer, across the state for twelve days now.
Unfortunately, I failed to stop him before he’d struck again last night in Gillette. Another convenience store worker had had his throat ripped out. The register had been emptied. The FBI were involved because the spree had crossed state lines, and I needed to put a lid on this thing ASAP.
The agency didn’t know shit about shifters, and Jameson needed to be punished by shifter means. To be put down, so he wasn’t a threat to the shifter way. To humans.
Late last night, I’d slipped into the scene of the crime in wolf form to scent the place. I pushed past the bleach cleaner used on the floor and the fatty aroma of rotating hot dogs and picked up his scent. I knew it now and would know him when I found him. I didn’t need video surveillance or mug shots to identify the guy.
He was a wolf shifter, like me. Fucker. I hated when our species screwed things up in the shifter world. But it made him easier to find and execute. A wolf knew a wolf.
As an enforcer, I knew how to hunt a rogue one.
I’d seen no paw prints in the snow around the building, so I believed he traveled by car. I already knew from the security footage released to the public that he attacked in human form. He must partially shift to maul the workers. No human ripped out another’s throat.
Whatever the story, he had to be put down.
Today.
Before he hurt any more humans and exposed our kind to their law enforcement.
My theory was that he was into drugs. That’s why the wild, haphazard robberies and random killings, all at convenience stores. Whatever cocktail of narcotics he’d taken had made him crazed. Savage enough to kill innocent people trying hard to make a living.
Whatever his reasoning, it didn’t matter. The council had sent me to end him. We didn’t allow rogue shifters or human killing.
He might still be alive, but his life was forfeit.
I entered a diner and immediately caught the fucker’s scent. Luck was with me. Trouble was, he’d scent me, too. Know a shifter was close. After him. Getting away with a number of killings and staying off the radar of the FBI meant he wasn’t just rogue, he was smart.
I turned around and left. It was better to catch him outside and have the element of surprise on my hands. A bunch of diners as witnesses wouldn’t be good, either.
In the Wolf pack, only Rob knew I was an enforcer. Sure, the others knew of the role within the pack system, but our identities were secret. While everyone wanted to ensure pack safety and security, no one wanted to know they had an executioner in their pack.
Boyd and Colton had no idea. Neither did my brother, Rand, my parents or anyone else. To them, I worked the ranch. Handled the horses. Was our pack’s chosen delegate to the council. A simple cowboy living a simple rural life.
As fucking if.
I walked through the dirt parking lot until I caught the faint scent again around an old Honda Civic. Great, now I had his car. I went back to my truck, parked facing the lot and diner but near the street and climbed in to wait.
Twenty minutes later, a guy moved toward the door, setting a toothpick between his teeth. Just because I’d scented him didn’t mean I didn’t have his photo. I did my job and did it well. Skipping something like being able to identify the rogue shifter by more than scent was plain stupid. My mind drifted back to that night months ago when I’d fucked the hot little number, Becky, in the storage room. I thought of that often, especially with my dick in hand. I hadn’t been able to scent her then, and that had been a fucking shame. I could only imagine what it would have been like if I’d had that sense at the time.
As the guy stopped in the middle of the parking lot to adjust his pants, I put a silencer on the pistol. The place was remote enough that if I could haul him around back, I could be done with this damn assignment.
I jogged toward the guy, his pasty face smudged with bacon grease.
“Jarod Jameson?” I asked, even as I got a whiff of him. I prodded him in the ribs with the muzzle of the gun through my coat pocket.
He started to snarl but then must’ve caught my shifter scent because he stiffened, and the metallic smell of fear issued from his body.
Be afraid, fucker.
I lifted my chin. “Walk around back.”
His movements were jerky as he obeyed, stepping around behind the diner. I prodded him to keep moving until we were all the way behind the dumpster. Glancing around, I confirmed we were alone.
“Jarod Jameson, you have violated shifter law, and the shifter council has deemed your life forfeited,” I recited.
Even though I held a gun to his back, he whirled and slashed me with a dagger, far faster than should have been possible, even for a shifter.
Holy fuck. I lurched back, but not before the tip skimmed across my ribs, cutting through my jacket, shirt and flesh. It shouldn’t have hurt all that much because it was a shallow graze across my ribs, but the gash immediately began to sizzle and pop, like the tip had been poisoned. Probably with silver.
Shit. It wasn’t going to kill me, but it was going to hurt like fuck. And slow me down. My body had to work hard to fight the poison, and that meant less healing properties and less focus.
I ignored the searing pain, trying to keep my vision clear.
This asshole had to die. And now. I swept my foot out and took him by surprise. Most shifters didn’t know martial arts—why would we need it when we can sprout fangs and rip someone’s throat out?
Jarod fell forward onto his hands, and I aimed carefully. One shot behind the left ear, and he dropped the rest of the way to the ground, dead.
I tucked the gun back in my pocket and walked around the far side of the diner—opposite of the way we’d arrived—to my truck.
It was for the safety of all shifters, I reminded myself, as I had every time I took a life. There were no shifter prisons. There was no other form of justice besides the council ruling and the enforcers meting out the appropriate punishment. Human justice was for just that: humans. If Jameson had been captured by the FBI, it wouldn’t have gone well. A shifter in prison? It wouldn’t hold him. He was a danger to the peacekeepers as much as the criminals. On top of that, it would result in our species being revealed.
I acted for all shifters only because someone had to. There were eight enforcers in all of North America. When there was a vacancy, it was filled. When I was nineteen, Rob had approached me, took me to the Shifter Council meeting and offered me the job.
Job. It was more of a role. Council enforcer. There were rules with the task. Secrecy. At the time, I’d been honored. My best friend had been alpha for three years and had authority. His brother had joined the Green Berets to fight for human lives. I’d been young and restless. Eager to prove my worth. I hadn’t even imagined the burden ending someone’s life would have. The secrecy of it. I did it because it had to be done. Jarod Jameson wouldn’t have stopped. And I’d rather it be me than some shifter with a taste for blood. Or someone like my younger brother, who couldn’t live with a tainted soul like mine.
I might come across as the quiet one. The peacemaker at the ranch. The calm cowboy.
Little did they fucking know.
In the truck, I poured water over the wound, trying to wash away the silver dust or whatever the tip of the knife had been poisoned with.
The edges of the gash were already pulling away, angry and red, the opposite of how a shifter wound normally behaved.
Fuck.
It would heal, but it would take time. I’d have to hide it from my brother and the rest of the ranch hands. My parents. Even if I got gored by a fucking bull like Boyd had, the wound would heal quickly. I couldn’t explain this one away.
Sighing, I started the truck and took off. My job was done. Five hours and I’d be back in Cooper Valley. I could report to Rob and glue the edges of the cut back together with superglue. Colton had said that was something humans did when in a situation where they couldn’t stitch a wound although I was sure no shifter had ever tried it. Or had need.
We had a doctor—Audrey—living right on the ranch, but I couldn’t even ask her for help. She might be able to stitch me up since the wound was behaving more like I was human than shifter, but she’d know something was up. Boyd’s wound from the bull goring had healed before her eyes. She’d seen a teenaged shifter get shot by that fucker Markle. She’d even helped a child at her own wedding reception to know shifters healed differently. She’d question this. Not even her mate knew my role with the council. Hell, I doubted she even knew there was something called an enforcer.
Thinking of the human doctor brought back thoughts of her friend, Becky, the lovely nurse I’d hooked up with at the bachelorette party.
As I drove north on the two-lane road, I imagined Becky’s nimble fingers sewing up my wound. Forget about the damn wound, I’d like to see those nimble fingers wrapped around my dick again, tugging hard, asking for a hard fuck. But that wasn’t going to happen, and there were several good reasons why.
I sighed, wiping my face, then wincing as lifting my arm tugged on the oozing wound.
A male like me couldn’t mate. Not with the role of council enforcer. My job was my life, even if it was a secret. If anyone ever found out, I’d have assholes out for revenge climbing out of the woodwork. I’d heard enough about enforcers and how they were hated for serving justice so ruthlessly. And anonymously. My role was needed—and hated—among all species of shifters. Because of that, any mate of mine would never be safe.
Becky wasn’t mine. She never had been. My wolf didn’t recognize her as my mate. She was just a gorgeous human who’d gotten under my skin just as much as this poison in my side. It was taking a long time to heal from a quick encounter in a storage room.
3
BECKY
I pushed the cart through the produce section and stopped in front of the avocados. I gave one a gentle squeeze, then another, finding some that weren’t too firm or soft. I added a bunch to my cart. I never used to like avocados, even avoiding guacamole at Mexican restaurants as if it were some kind of green slime.
Now? I couldn’t get enough of the things, which wasn’t helping my bank account. November in Montana wasn’t the best time to get them, but my body wanted the dang things, and they stayed down. At least it was healthy, unlike my ridiculous craving for cocktail wieners.
I’d only thrown up once today, which was a miracle in itself. I worked on the labor and delivery floor at the hospital. I knew all about pregnancy. Well, I thought I had, until I was pregnant myself. My OB assured me that while having morning sickness into my second trimester was perfectly normal, it wasn’t fun.
No shit, Sherlock.
It wasn’t too severe that I worried about nourishment or being dehydrated. My little peanut gave me a reprieve for most of the day to get food down. And keep it down. The rest of the time? People needed to watch out.
It just seemed like a long time since the nausea began. Since I found out. Even longer since that night. That night.
The night that Clint the Hot Cowboy and his super sperm got past a condom and knocked me up. Not only had the wild ride he’d given me in the storage room been a surprise—I’d never had a quickie before in my life—so were the two blue stripes on the pregnancy test I took a few weeks later.
I’d worked at a clinic telling people the importance of using condoms, that they weren’t a foolproof method of birth control.
Again, no shit, Sherlock.
The fateful July party was supposed to have been fun. A little wild. Something for Audrey to remember as a crazy bachelorette party before she tied the knot with her hot rodeo champ, Boyd. She wasn’t the only one who wouldn’t forget it.
I knew Boyd and Audrey went at it like rabbits. Even back then. Especially back then. But they hadn’t been the ones to get all hot and heavy in the storage room.
I had. With Clint Tucker. While I’d never met him face-to-face before that night, I’d seen him in passing, and I’d liked what I’d seen a whole hell of a lot. I’d been friends with Audrey since she first moved to town, and we began working together at the hospital. After she met Boyd, I’d gone to the ranch and seen Clint in the corral with the horses. That was when I realized I had a thing for cowboys.
He looked like the Marlboro man without the cigarette. Dark hair, muscular. Big. Well, over a foot taller than me. He had the square jawline and rugged appearance of a manly-man, but there were smile lines around his eyes that made him seem trustworthy.
There had been other guys around, but I’d been snared watching him. Only him. There’d been a calmness about him that was a draw, as if he knew who he was and didn’t give a fuck what anyone else thought. At the ranch and at the bar that night.
It was a complete one-eighty from my ex.
If there was a photo of a dick in the dictionary, it wouldn’t be of a penis—it would be my soon-to-be ex-husband’s face. Todd was a dick. Clint wasn’t one, but definitely had one, and look where that got me. Pregnant. I should have learned from Todd and steered clear of men. I had, until Clint and my need to save a horse and ride a cowboy. I had a trusty vibrator, and I should have blown out the motor.
I pushed past the fruit and steered to the meat counter. It was damn hard to eat the amount of protein recommended, according to my doctor’s meal sheet. I sighed as I waited for the butcher to come over, so I could order some sausages, but the smell of the raw fish at the far end of the display hit me hard. I gagged before I could even talk myself down.
Oh shit. Where was the bathroom in this place? I spun in a circle, wondering if it was up front by customer service or here in the back, but that only made things worse.
Abandoning my cart, I whirled away from the counter and ran smack into a wall of… tall, hard man.
Big hands wrapped around my elbows. “Hey,” a deep, all-too-familiar voice rumbled. “Becky… hey. Wow. Um… hi. Uh, you all right?”
I craned my neck to look up and... into Clint’s handsome face. My eyes widened in surprise and panic. His nostrils flared as he drew a deep breath, and for a moment, his startled eyes seemed to change from green to grey. I quickly dropped my analysis of the color of his irises because the act of moving my head too fast brought on another wave of nausea.
“Jesus, you look green,” he commented.
For a third time in five minutes, no shit, Sherlock.
I stepped to the left to get around him, but he followed. I shifted to the right as if I were a football tight end trying to get past an opposing linebacker.
“Hey,” he said at the same time as I told him to move.
He didn’t, and that was it for me. I doubled over, heaving, and—God help me—puked a little on Clint’s work boots.
“Oh my God,” I croaked, keeping my head down as I shoved my hand in my purse for a tissue. “Oh God, this is so embarrassing.”
I hadn’t seen Clint in four months, and now I threw up on him. Because of his baby being all sadistic and torturing me from the inside out.
“You okay? Shelby, get her a bottle of water,” Clint barked.
“Yep. Be right back.” The sound of a female voice brought my head up again, just in time to see the gorgeous juice bar girl from the farmer’s market heading away. I stared at how her snug jeans showed off an ass she could probably bounce a quarter off of. Her short puffy coat didn’t hide anything.
My stomach instantly settled. As in a brick sunk in it and held it down.
It wasn’t like I was interested in Clint. I wasn’t! I hadn’t told him there’d been consequences to our hookup a few months ago because the last thing I needed was guy complications. Sure, I’d stewed on that issue for a few weeks. Did I tell him? Did I not? He deserved to know. No, it didn’t matter. We’d left it as casual. A quickie. Nothing more.
I had enough trouble trying to get through my divorce from Todd in one piece. We’d been legally separated for two years, but he wouldn’t sign the papers. Wouldn’t end it. Instead, he wanted to fuck with me. Draw it out. Push up my legal bills in the hopes I’d give up and go back to him.
Yeah, I’d go back to a guy being a dick just to get me back. Todd was dumber than I’d ever thought. I was stuck with him legally until he gave up and just signed.
A wild fuck at the back of Cody’s was one thing, but I didn’t need some other guy making demands of me. They were nothing but trouble.
That was the whole reason I hadn’t gone to Audrey to be my Ob/Gyn. Not only did I not want my BFF to see my vagina or a baby popping out of it—I did have some boundaries in friendships—I was afraid she’d put two and two together and realize who the father was.
Still, seeing Clint with Juice Girl jabbed me with a hot poker of jealousy. Clearly, he and his dick had moved on. I would never have a tight body or even tighter ass. My baby belly and my breasts popped over the last week.
“Let’s get you somewhere you can clean up,” Clint suggested, looking me over.
Thank God I had on a heavy coat and a bulky sweater beneath.
“I’ll just go home,” I mumbled, trying to lurch away. To forget this moment ever happened.
But Clint maintained contact with one of my elbows, following along beside me as if I required his strength to walk.
Which would’ve been nice if I had. Or if I hadn’t just barfed all over his feet.
Gah!
Juice Girl materialized out of nowhere. “Here you go—it’s already paid for.”
Clint snatched it from her hand with a murmured thanks, unscrewed the top and thrust it at me. “Take a sip.”
I grabbed it, desperate to escape. “Thanks so much, both of you. I gotta run before I hurl again.”
“I’ll drive you home,” Clint offered.
“No, no, no, no.” I couldn’t seem to stop my lips from saying the syllable over and over again. “I’m okay on my own.”
I was. Completely on my own.
“Probably,” he countered. “But I’m not letting you drive yourself home when you’re feeling this way. Give me your keys, sugar.”
Sugar. He’d called me that at the bar. It had sounded good then and now.
But I wasn’t his sugar. He was with Shelby, and I knew he wasn’t an asshole, so I had to assume he called every woman sugar. Like the mechanic who worked on my car calling everyone honey.
I looked up at him, my embarrassment morphing into something hot and slithery. My ever-tender nipples beaded up in my now too-tight bra. I’d just thrown up, and I was hot for him. Eager for what he had in his pants. And the dark words out of his mouth.
Clint was bossy.
I shouldn’t like that.
Not after Todd’s controlling asshole ways. He’d told me what to do, what to wear, what to buy.
But it seemed a girl never learned because Clint’s take-charge attitude just erased all nausea and left my panties damp.
I had hormonal whiplash. Nauseated one minute, horny the next.
Yeah, as if Clint wanted to get it on with a woman who just hurled on him. Soooo sexy.
Still, I hesitated. Part of me was anxious to escape, especially considering Clint was here with another woman. But he held out his hand and pinned me with that stern dark gaze, and I found myself passing the keys before I’d made up my mind whether to obey.
“What about your groceries?” Clint asked, glancing behind me at my cart.
“I just need to leave,” I begged. “I’ll come back tomorrow and apologize to the manager.”
“Okay. Shelby, would you mind—”
“No problem. I’ll take care of our shopping. Give me the keys to your truck, and I’ll finish up.”
Well.
She was awfully accommodating considering Clint was leaving with another woman. She must really be eager to please. When I glanced at her, I found her eyeing me with curiosity rather than jealousy.
Uh oh. Hopefully they weren’t into threesomes.
Oh, what was I thinking? Nobody was thinking about having sex with me right now. I just puked in a grocery store. On a hot cowboy’s boots.
He was just being a gentleman and seeing me home.
I let him steer me outside, and I pointed out my Subaru. He opened the passenger door and handed me in like I was some kind of elderly woman then walked around, pushed my seat all the way back and climbed behind the wheel.
“Where to?” he asked, looking over at me.
“Listen, you don’t have to drive me.” I opened the glove box and pulled out some napkins, which I thrust at him. “For your boots.”
He took them and leaned down to give his boots a quick swipe. “Thanks. Now, where do you live?”
“I’m really sorry, Clint. I don’t want your girlfriend to be mad.” I couldn’t help myself. I just had to ask. He was a nice guy, and I didn’t want to mess things up for him.
“Girlfriend?” He raised both brows in surprise then his lips twitched. “You think Shelby’s my girlfriend?” He shook his head and started the car. “No, sugar. She was just helping me pick up some things for a family gathering we’re having. It’s too cold for a barbeque but same kind of thing.”
“Oh. She’s—um—family?” Dammit, did I sound way too hopeful? Did I really think a gorgeous guy like him would be single?
He backed up, lips tipping up again. “Yep, we’re related. I couldn’t tell you exactly how. Second cousins, maybe—I don’t know. But yes, she’s family.”
I sat back, my stomach calm, much of my agitation easing. “Well, she seems really nice.”
I liked her far better now that I knew she wasn’t Clint’s girlfriend. She seemed like a really awesome cousin. Stellar, even.
I gave Clint directions back to the duplex I’d moved into when I first left Todd and arrived in Cooper Valley. Thanks to the crushing weight of his med school bills—yeah, his, not mine—I couldn’t afford any better. I still couldn’t since we were still fucking married, and his debts were my debts.
“What do you think made you sick?” Clint asked. “Stomach flu? Food poisoning?”
I drew in a breath. “Food poisoning, probably,” I said quickly. While Clint might eventually find out I was pregnant, I couldn’t deal with the complications that would bring at the moment. I’d wanted to see him again, but I’d wanted to be prepared. Have a mental script of what to say. Heck, even makeup and maybe not have throw-up breath.
As happy as I was that he and Shelby weren’t an item, that didn’t mean I got to lay claim to him. Or that I even wanted to. His dick would be good, but all of him? All six-feet plus of hot cowboy? I wasn’t ready for that or the complications that went with it.
I would have enough problems when Todd found out I was pregnant. Knowing that asshole, he’d probably try to claim paternity even though we hadn’t had sex in two years. He was determined to cause me as much trouble and delay our divorce for as long as he possibly could. Adding a pregnancy to the legal proceedings was going to be a nightmare.
“What do you do for that?” He glanced over from the wheel.
Seriously? Had he never had food poisoning before? “Oh, you know. Lots of fluids and staying closer to a bathroom than I did. I’ll be fine. I’m already feeling better. Again, I’m sorry about your boots.”
“Stop apologizing,” he said firmly in that same bossy tone that had made my nipples hard at the store. He pulled in front of my place, parked and quickly texted the address to Shelby, so she could pick him up. He turned to look at me, his gaze roving over my face. “What can I do to help?”
“You’ve been a huge help already, but it’s enough.” I opened the door and climbed out, my boots sinking into three-day old snow my neighbor and I still hadn’t shoveled.
Clint surged out from behind the wheel and jogged to catch my elbow, like he was afraid I’d slip.
I stopped and smiled at him. He really was quite the gentleman. The memory of him gallantly riding to my rescue the night we hooked up came flooding back with fondness. “I’m fine. Really. Hey, your nose is looking better.”
He lifted his free hand to touch it as if he’d forgotten, then grinned. “Yeah. All good.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I replied. “I’m good, too.”
“Well, I am worried.” His forehead crinkled. He steered me forward to my door. “I’m going to come back and check on you.”
My heart did a little somersault before I promptly stepped on it.
Nope. Dating Clint was off the table.
Way too complicated, and I knew it was better to steer clear of him from the start because I had a feeling he had a slew of broken hearts in his wake. I didn’t want mine to be one of them.
“It’s really not necessary.”
“Tough. I’m going to come by just the same,” he said firmly, tipping his cowboy hat.
I tried to ignore the clenching between my legs that simple act produced while Clint stepped even closer and stared down at me as if fascinated. He took a deep breath as he studied me.
Oh lordy. I wouldn’t mind a repeat of the night we hooked up.
It had been mind-blowing to say the least. I remembered the feel of his hands on me, the hard press of his body against mine as he held me pinned to the wall. The feel of him hot and thick between my legs. The deep thrust of his dick. The way he looked when he came. How it felt when he made me come.
Shit, I wanted that again. So bad. But I couldn’t, even though my vibrator didn’t compare. That one night had already gotten me in a world of trouble.
If I weren’t worried about barf-breath, I would’ve stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek, but considering my horrific state, I thought it best to simply duck into my place and wave from the door. Shelby had just pulled up in Clint’s truck, so I was home free.
“Thanks again,” I chirped, trying to close the door in his face.
“You can close the door on me now, sugar, but I’ll be by tomorrow to look in on you.” He stepped back.
I waved again and shut the door.
Crap.
Resisting that sexy cowboy had been doable today because I’d puked on his boots. Tomorrow would be a different story.
I wasn’t sure I had the willpower necessary to resist the magnetic attraction I had to the father of my child.
4
CLINT
Mate.
How could I have been so stupid? I’d missed that the hot little nurse was my mate. Four months ago, I’d had my mate in my arms, my dick deep in her pussy, and I’d had no idea. That was one for the shifter record books.
Fuck! A growl rumbled from my chest as I drove out of town.
My nose had been freshly broken the night she and I hooked up at Cody’s, and I hadn’t been able to smell, but still—shouldn’t I have known?
Yeah, I’d been attracted to her from across the room, but so had lots of other guys. Including the one who’d punched me.
Prickles ran all down my arms, across the back of my neck thinking about it. Becky was my mate, and she’d been alone, unprotected while I’d been away. I hadn’t even had any of the other pack members watching out for her. Nothing from me.
Nothing. I was the shittiest mate ever. I wanted to beat the shit out of something, pissed at myself for not being there, even when I’d had no idea. It made leaving her behind now even worse.
I’d breathed in her honeyed scent at the meat counter in the fucking grocery store, and I knew.
My wolf had howled and preened with joy.
She’d been sick! I’d attentively driven her home, ensuring she was safe. What kind of mate left? Walked away when she was clearly feeling poorly?
Me.
As I drove my truck up the mountain to the pack cabin for our meeting, I ignored the curious glances from Shelby, who was probably smart enough to put two and two together. And stay silent.
A wolf didn’t get that interested over a human puking in the grocery store for nothing.
Now that I reviewed our interaction at the bachelorette party, all the signs were obvious. How I’d lost control when that asshole had tried to pick her up. How satisfied I’d been when she’d gone with me into the storage room. How satisfied she’d been when we were finished. How I hadn’t wanted it to be a one-time thing.
But it had never occurred to me that she might be mine.
Mine.
And now, it had taken all my willpower just to walk away from her and get in my truck when Shelby had pulled up in front of her place. Claiming a human wasn’t the same as claiming a she-wolf. They didn’t recognize you by scent. They had different ideas about how partnerships with the opposite sex were formed. Becky had no idea she was mine. Even worse, all she probably thought of me was the quickie she’d had at Cody’s over the summer.
She wasn’t a quickie. Sure, we’d had one, and I’d walked away. I’d been gone pretty much the entire time since, dealing with enforcer shit. There had been no opportunity to revisit the connection we’d had. To see if there was more.
It was a coincidence we’d bumped into each other at the store. Coincidence she’d thrown up on me. I’d blocked her path not knowing… fuck, my mate was sick! That was going to torture me all fucking night until I got eyes on her again and could verify she was feeling better.
Yeah, I’d had to leave. It had been obvious she’d wanted me gone, embarrassed at being sick on me. I didn’t give a shit about that. I was in this with her, throw up and all. She just didn’t know it yet. Like Audrey and Marina before her, she knew nothing about shifters. What I really was. What she meant to me.
Which only had my frustration ratchet up another notch. The further I drove away from her, the angrier my wolf got. I had to figure out what to do because she was fucking mine, and I’d take care of her. In fact, I might need to get a place in town, so I could keep a closer eye on her. Even if she wasn’t ready to accept me as her mate, she required protection. Seeing her sick reminded me of just how vulnerable she was.
Protection.
Oh, fuck.
Reality hit me like a brick in the temple.
How could a council enforcer possibly mate? I’d already written it off as a bad idea. I’d gone into the role with my eyes wide open, knowing the danger, the threat to my life. My job had zero rainbows and unicorns. It was all silver bullets and neck snapping.
The assholes I hunted had zero problems with hurting those who I cared about to get back at me. Hell, being mated to an enforcer all but put a bullseye on a female’s back. It would be especially bad with a human. She was so vulnerable. One punch from a vengeful shifter could snap her neck. And humans didn’t have regeneration capabilities. She would die.
I’d never be able to live with myself if something happened to her.
Hell, I already wouldn’t be able to ever sleep again for fear something could happen.
Dammit.
I’d just found my mate, and I couldn’t have her. The safest thing for Becky was for me to stay away. Her own mate was her greatest threat.
Fuck!
I pulled in front of the pack cabin and backed around, so the tailgate faced the front porch to unload the supplies for the meeting and dinner afterward. It was a new moon, but I was as agitated as I’d be at a full moon. I smacked my hand on the steering wheel, and Shelby just watched then climbed from the truck.
I slammed the truck door as Rob came out of the building to help. He eyed me, as if he could already sense the shift that had taken place inside me. It was true. I was normally very even-keeled. I was the quiet one.
